Brain Leaders And Learnershttps://brainleadersandlearners.com
Discover Your Genius with New Neural ToolsTue, 14 Aug 2018 14:27:21 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8https://brainleadersandlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cropped-Ellen_Weber.avatar-1-32x32.jpgBrain Leaders And Learnershttps://brainleadersandlearners.com
3232Do Introverts Jinx Their Future?https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/14/how-introverts-jinx-their-future/
https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/14/how-introverts-jinx-their-future/#respondTue, 14 Aug 2018 13:07:34 +0000https://brainleadersandlearners.com/?p=16596Read more »]]>The mind is capable of anything – because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. (Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness).

What Conrad fails to warn us here is that every past action sits stored in our brain ready to shape and control things we think and do next. By shape, I mean our past beliefs can limit our future behaviors. The brain’s storehouse or basal ganglia controls self-talk, for instance. In other words, it’s not easy to correct a common misunderstanding when we’re steeped in past notions of a thing. Take introversion, as being portrayed as a negative or nerdy trait. How so?

Based on what we’ve been told, we mistake introverts for anti-social, shy, fearful, or anxious loners who bounce on one foot, sweat or hyperventilate whenever they encounter people. Nothing could be farther from the truth. New facts about human brains dictate otherwise.

Introversion’s actually an expression of intrapersonal intelligence, or of our reflective selves. Furthermore, we all possess intrapersonal IQ in some measure. This intelligence operates our self-talk and it’s not just others who get our introversion wrong.

If highly reflective people cling to misunderstandings such as I love alone times because I lack basic skills to enjoy others, they can trigger depression or worse. Their inaccurate or negative self-talk begins to stall magical superpowers that spawn strengths during delightful alone times. Those deep mental reflections that Conrad referred to as mental capabilities.

Expose the inner secret truths of talented introverts such as the Dali Lama, for example, and you’ll find the opposite of anti-social behavior. So why do introverts often invite such misunderstanding? Simply stated, it takes new facts about the reflective brain to change our perception of introverts.

“He’s not interested in communicating with others,” his mother apologized. “Brett’s our introvert,” she said as if introversion defined Brett’s entire character.

We’ve all heard it. He’d rather be alone. Or, she rarely accepts party invitations, preferring to read at home alone. With all the bad press introverts attract, it’s time to come up with a new word that depicts the superpowers of this mental state.

Why not refer to introversion as intrapersonal intelligence? That’s what it is after all. It’s an inner sanctum of our brains, where we think, dream, meditate, take on moral convictions, and hopefully enjoy personal growth daily. It’s a brilliant tool when we begin to see past its poor reputation.

What if we link introversion to valuable new opportunities to grow personal skills. Rather than see “introversion” as limiting, what if we corral its dynamic mental strength? We’ll quickly conclude that intrapersonal IQ does not preclude growing social abilities since these two occupy completely different domains in your brain. How so?Intrapersonal IQ is one of your multiple intelligences and it includes but it’s far more than ethics or common sense, or being kind to you!

Our human gene pools come hardwired with a unique mix of inner and ethical equipment, sometimes referred to as common sense. It’s also called intrapersonal intelligence, and it can be be taught, actively engaged, and tracked as we expand it.

Loneliness will be high if intrapersonal IQ is low, but loneliness is less about spending time alone and lore about low inner skills to enjoy personal growth.

Daniel Goleman names common sense as part of one’s emotional intelligence. Others say it’s intuition, and Einstein claimed it won him the Nobel Prize. New research shows it includes hunches, where let’s say a soldier in battle makes a fast judgment call. You may think of it as introspection where we grasp a clearer concept. Have you seen intrapersonal IQ active in thinkers you know?

]]>https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/14/how-introverts-jinx-their-future/feed/0Drugs for a Broken Brainhttps://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/13/drugs-for-a-broken-brain/
https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/13/drugs-for-a-broken-brain/#respondMon, 13 Aug 2018 15:59:08 +0000https://brainleadersandlearners.com/?p=16581Read more »]]>I could have become an opioid statistic.

My mother died of cancer at 38, which left me out on Barrington Street in Halifax, alone at 14. As mom deteriorated, so also did home life and hope.

My sister, two older brothers and I, slipped out the back door after dinner without a sound. We left behind dad’s angry taunts, demands to quit school to pay rent, clean his house, and prepare his meals.

Too afraid to speak or speculate where we’d be when darkness closed in, we trudged toward dusk. Bonnie’s words soon became our reality, “We need to separate…” After Tom disappeared, I slipped into a busy bus depot. With chicken-fried steak scents near the depot’s café, it reeked of stale whiskey near its long, wooden pews edged against metal lockers with graffiti not worth repeating.

I awoke to see a guy with gaping holes in his jeans. He held out meth in a stained napkin and snapped, “How much you got?”

Without a penny or a plan, I feigned composure, nodded and started walking. “Where’re you goin’so fast?” I’m pretty sure I heard, “Bitch.” Walking faster, I listened but didn’t want to hear. I pulled up my hood, breathed deeply, and panic pounded its heartbeats into my ears. Just as the sound of footsteps subsided I spotted the library and bolted to its familiar oversized doors.

Next morning, I walked to school, barely in time for debate practice. The topic? Do schools fail or succeed to help teens find mental tools for life. My pro team used Sister Ligouri’s biology class, a favorite, to solve tough problems and toss personal stories back and forth.

With a borrowed dollar from debate partner Pauline, I raced down the hall and devoured four doughnuts at the 12th graders’ sale table set up to fund their Toronto band trip. When I returned I overheard Pauline tell Ligouri, “Most days she skips two meals.”

By the time school ended that year I was 15, skinny as the white plastic skeleton that hung from a hat rack in science class, had gotten kicked out of my rooming house for late rent payments, and had accepted Sister Ligouri’s offer to clean at her convent in return for a room during the coming year. I hid my homelessness from the debate team, afraid I’d end up living in the orphanage attached to the convent where I cleaned and roomed, should anybody discover my parentless plight.

Sister Ligouri must have sensed that home fell apart after mom died, since my siblings dropped out of school. We avoided details, as I preferred privacy. By disappearing over holidays, and spending more time in the public library, I escaped explanations I still lacked.

Ligouri slipped me a scrunched up $20 bill as I left for the day. I bought a cheeseburger and a coke at the drug store counter, plugged Elvis’ Only the Lonely into the jute box and decided I’d become a brain researcher.

During preparation for our final debate I couldn’t get enough information about hope and new neural discoveries. It was as if it a surging interest in neural research intensified just to help my broken brain. We won that debate, and yet decades later I remain convinced that there’s no need to understand how inner chemicals called neurotransmitters release comfort in each synapse, in order to jostle around on clouds because they do. It’s enough to recognize Ligouri’s molecules of happiness, by switching on serotonin chemicals, until they turn our dials toward encouragement.

The negative team countered, “If natural drugs work so well, how come they’re not taught in school?” Luckily, Sister Ligouri’s biology class opened that week with the question, “Why do humans naturally possess about five to ten mg of serotonin chemicals?” She then challenged, “How do aha chemicals, 90% active in our guts, impact the 10% surging through our brains?”

Momentum built. Supports shot back and forth as if the moderator had left the room. We fought about failure to act so that neurons release serotonin. We questioned cravings. We raised coping problems that arose when low serotonin levels ignite anxiety, fear, self-pity, stress, and depression.

I overshot reason with claims that serotonin transforms gunners into givers, lazy into learner, and victim into victor.

Ligouri interjected, “How do we become students of our brains?” I tossed back her own words which have since become my mantra, “Grab a fresh gulp of oxygen and expect serotonin’s ecstasy.”

]]>https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/13/drugs-for-a-broken-brain/feed/0Back to School with Brain Based Tools!https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/06/back-to-school-with-brain-based-tools/
https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/06/back-to-school-with-brain-based-tools/#respondMon, 06 Aug 2018 13:29:29 +0000https://brainleadersandlearners.com/?p=16565Read more »]]>The best lessons take down walls between a brain’s potential and a person’s possibilities. Teach emotional balance & content or facts become an engine for credible innovation!

Find a saving of $35.00 off the 902 page brain based bundle below!

Oh, and here are back to school, ready-to-roll, time-saving forms that draw in students and parents! Transform every class you teach into adventures they remember! Oh … and you can also track learning progress in your classes to make teaching more fun!

Video descriptions for each bundle to help you find just the right forms that will make your term memorable for all!

Bundle of interactive forms that create real community between parents and learners and teachers.

Survey multiple intelligences free at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Survey-to-Discover-Your-Multiple-Intelligences-477656 and then write about a different intelligence to stretch.

Toss some serotonin into your relationship with a writing mentor by completing this email: I treasure how you …

Research five facts and then check each off as you write about it. Make it fun! When you apply facts, you free your working memory for problem-solving.

Listen to a TED talk, identify what one idea marks this original thinker, and then write one thing that would add mental brilliance to your day.

Offer a few words of kindness to a person who’s been criticized. Cynicism or criticism stomps out innovation. Kindness adds the opposite with brainier results.

Apply something you write today to improve something you will do tomorrow. Plasticity, or the brain’s ability to change itself, grows mindfulness when we act.

When you want to focus or write new ideas play your favorite music. Rhythm alters your brain waves and can improve your moods.

Discover an aha solution to a pesky problem by listing the problem on the left side of a T-chart and possible solutions on the right. Your frontal lobe helps you to choose original solutions with aha benefits.

Write beside a river or in natural light. Increased light decreases melatonin (a sleep chemical) so that you remain focused and more alert.

Write a tip to calm your mind when conflict arises. Each time you react calmly your amygdala (or seat of emotions) stores this reaction for your next emotional response when challenged.

Write about one FaceBook like today. Brains are plastic and malleable so they can be set into a new mold by what we like.

Write one new topic today and then teach it to somebody else. Brains retain 90% more when we teach as we learn, compared to 5% retention from lectures.

Write the opposite side of your view, and then apply one benefit you learned from that view.

Jot down one why you appreciate a person’s talent and then thank that person in a text. Thankfulness increases oxytocin and grows trust in relationships.

Write about one thing you do well and compare that to a peer’s different strength. Mutual mentoring awakens hidden and unused parts of your brain.

Outline steps to add hope to your day, through a different intelligence. Expect to grow new dendrite brain cell connections.

Jot down three things you look forward to this week. Expectation adds alertness to words.

Write about play time that alters your day and you’ll change the make-up of your brain.

Start a personal revolution with another writer. We come equipped with mirror that mimic those around us.

Rewrite one thing into another, such as a log into a bench. Novelty acts as a trigger to advance an innovative mind.

Turn one learning event into a silly way to learn something new.

How will your super-power move you from curious to a new quest worth chasing?

]]>https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/08/04/write-past-ruts-with-the-brain-in-mind/feed/0Why Change What Appears Unbroken?https://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/07/31/why-change-what-appears-unbroken/
Tue, 31 Jul 2018 16:34:48 +0000https://brainleadersandlearners.com/?p=16465Read more »]]>Most people are aware that healthy brains flex frequently, rewire daily and respond to differences in ways that spawn growth. Lesser known however, is the fact that our flexibility peters out often before mental changes actually jump-start. Unfortunately, we risk sliding into a cerebral gridlock or resistance to change, when we operate one part of the brain and ignore another.

How do you handle changes that disrupt the way you typically write, speak or act?

That question reminds me of blueberry picking episodes as a kid back in Nova Scotia. We were promised that if we picked a large bucket full of berries, we’d enjoy our favorite blueberry dumpling for dessert. We sweated for hours to fill that pail as we suffered scratches from thorns along with mosquito bites and gnats galore. I’ll admit to our slipping the odd handful into our mouths to beat the summer heat. Then came the surprise….

On several occasions a black bear would lumber out from behind fir trees in what appeared to be a deliberate ambush to hijack our hard-earned near-full bucket of loot.

Our dumpling dessert dreams disappeared instantly. Fat, juicy berries would get tossed toward the bear’s direction, and we kids raced one another back home, empty-handed. OK, perhaps our sudden “change of strategy” is a bit of a stretch to illustrate mental flexibility here, since the bear presented a compelling case for instantly abandoning our hard work. But what about everyday risks we run from? When asked the one thing most regretted in life, a large group of seniors interviewed, admitted overwhelmingly, “I wish I’d taken more risks.”

Each time we run from change, our brain’s default system or basal ganglia kicks in as an inner mental force in opposition to change. Unless we’re running from bears, it’s likely not a good idea to allow this comfort zone of sorts to dominate. We see its tragic results in opinionated peers who insist on one pre-determined reaction, regardless of new information offered. It may not be a hulking bear barrier, but frequent forces that require a new blueprint will likely appear at times we least expect.

Think of the basal ganglia as a mental warehouse of sorts, where all our actions, both good and bad, stockpile and sit ready for reuse. Our basal ganglia’s also a bit like the elephant in the room, a stubborn elephant at that. Its comfort zone qualities make it easy to pull up tired, broken or outdated responses that can dose an innovative challenge like an icy water spray hits us without notice.

Let’s say we fail to listen in ways that show we are open to be changed by the person who speaks to us. Each time we speak above peers or interrupt friends, or fail to hear concerns of those who differ, we amplify our brain’s basal ganglia or inability to change. It takes knowing how your brain can work against change and against growth, to avoid stubborn ruts that hold us back with regrets, like seniors expressed in interviews.

Luckily when we do slip, and we all do, there’s no need to remain in any rut. No need to get caught holding an empty bucket in a bear chase.

We can simply outsource our working memoryby practices such as creating cheat sheets to jot down memorable facts, and our awesome brains will use these facts to create new neuron pathways beyond former potholes. Avoid static routines that increase dangerous cortisol chemicals that fuel status quo, and we reboot serotonin fuels for fun and adventure!

Spot a brain’s need to regenerate to a better place

Here’s how it works. At the center of most ruts lies your brain’s basal ganglia storage of perhaps annoying habits of sarcasm that insults peers, for instance.

Simply use working memory abilities to transform old habits. Let’s say we exchange these sarcasm or cynicism behaviors for a hilarious joke that everybody can join in the laughter. In other words, with a simple choice, working memory can convert mean-spirit into kind, failure into success, and toxins for fear into talents for renewal.

Expect a bit of a tug-of-war where the basal ganglia tugs for traditional and familiar settings, and working memory pulls for innovation or adventure. Have you seen it?

Risk-takers and people who surf the cutting edges of possibilities, simply override the brain’s basal ganglia default daily. In surprisingly straightforward ways, they engage in mental fitness within their working memory and learn to release brain chemicals that override mental ruts. How so?

Use more working memory to create, and you’ll also keep your brain fueled and rolling forward. My graduate students love to engage their multiple intelligences in new and innovative ways that improve their workplace, for instance. Through changing up outmoded or broken approaches, they override basal ganglia ruts and leap over rigid routines in favor of fun and new leadership adventures. In the course, Lead Innovation with the Brain in Mind, students report mind-bending results from their efforts to use more working memory.

Which side of the brain do you favor?

Which side of the chart below do you live daily? Do you act more from basil ganglia – to the left? Or is your day fueled more by working memory to the right of the chart?

It’s quite phenomenal if you think about an average brain’s ability to rebound from ruts, or reboot for rejuvenation.

The working memory’s capacity may be tiny, yet it holds sizzling details you can apply to solve problems. While you can count facts stored on one hand, luckily working memory grows bigger with use. Think of it as your brain’s save key. Just as your computer’s save key dumps old data to pick up new facts, your working memory displaces current facts with newer details as fast as doughnuts disappear in Monday morning staff rooms. An uncomfortable place, working memory alerts you to apply its unfamiliar and innovative facts to spark creative changes. As with your computer save key – it’s a do-it-now or lose-it-now choice.

Help others use more working memory and they begin to create

Consider the following facts about basal ganglia and working memory, to help others avoid bad habits, side-step routines, and experience life-changing learning adventures. I like to start with one basic reality that encourages more risk-taking.

If we fail to engage working memory, we risk sliding into mental gridlocks. We find ourselves resisting change to our detriment. The opposite is also true. Operate the brain’s power-tools for wonder and curiosity for instance, and we isolate and reduce basal ganglia brain parts that lock us into ruts.

Use these approaches to build new neuron pathways that bridge the difference between mental rejuvenation and stubborn ruts. How will these brain facts about working memory help your students override basal ganglia ruts and make a difference today?

Looking for more learner-ready materials to capitalize on your working memory to create innovative learning adventures? Find practical brain based and working memory resources at my TPT site.

Related tool: Yearly planner with brain boosters and prompts to reboot your brain so that you tap and develop hidden and unused capabilities.

Frustrated by leaders who value money, power or influence more than supporting you, “the people?” Watching personal possibilities slip away, along with your problem-solving skills?

Good news is here if we dip into personal mental resources. Our brains come fully equipped with power-tools needed to step into a finer future for ourselves and others we support.

Not that we can change others. We can’t. Nevertheless, regardless of the challenges we face, our brains are fearfully and wonderfully made to lead far finer directions forward than many of us realize. Our pathways can side-step chaos we encounter to create the calm we crave.

How so?

Check out the brain-friendly choices that advance your autonomy to resolve whatever challenge you face.

1. Are you a caregiver feeling underwater without hope? Support your disabled or disadvantaged relative or friend by drawing hope from their unique talents and yours. Use one of your multiple intelligences rarely used, and watch hopeful opportunities open to you.

2. Do you struggle with anxiety? Discover thankfulness in what you have, rather than focus on your limitations. To the human brain spoken and lived expressions of gratitude reduce anxiety charged chemicals such as cortisol. See any opportunity here for mind-bending strength to march forward? Yes, in spite of obstacles we all encounter at one time or another.

3. Laugh at the little things and you lead others to laugh with you more. Laughter, even expressed in a casual smile will amp up the brain’s well-being chemical, serotonin. This aha hormone literally changes the chemistry of your brain. It fuels you mentally to tackle difficult challenges with renewed courage and problem-solving capability. Evidence of its operation, will be the rewards you take away from challenges you conquer. I learned this firsthand when I found myself left out on my own at 14, after my mother died of cancer.

Change takes action, and action changes the brain and showcases its evidence in mental wellbeing chemicals to fuel our way forward. Worth a shot?

Simply by the choices we make, we inspire others to step toward delightful results in spite of challenges or chaos. How so?

By designing materials based on brain research I solved daily dilemmas secondary school and university faculty face, with neural solutions they use as tools.

Stubborn snags may sometimes slow us down but our brains come equipped to link us to brilliant solutions we already possess. It’s merely a matter of connecting the problem to a brainy possibility.

Fail to connect to our brains and we may well miss an opportunity to bring about brilliance bits that power ourselves and others past daily traps. Let me explain. Let’s say somebody crosses us or we feel the need to correct a person we mentor.

We often lecture that person and therefore trigger a cranky chemical, cortisol in us and in the other person. Show kindness, smile and offer respect, even if we have to suck up an injustice though, and we woo ourselves and others into serotonin solutions!

You could say we literally shift angry situations into peaceful solutions by tapping into personal DNA pools.

The opposite is also true. Lecture an already angry person and watch cortisol escalate rather than dissipate. Have you seen it when parents or teachers berate youth? Contrast that response with a parent who gets an upset child laughing and moving forward with confidence. It’s a brain thing…

Below are a few difficulties we all face from time to time, along with our brain’s ready-to-roll solutions to help us out.

Take yesterday. I started my day heading to a Rotary meeting, and ended up at Crystal Glass where I replaced a car window broken overnight by a vandal. My upbeat mood hit up against a frustrating attempt to make a police report only to be told to file it online but don’t expect much to be done. Next, I contacted my insurance company to learn that they cannot help either. Unless I can prove vandalism I’m on my own.

Determined not to let this disaster define my day, I turned to a collision business to replace the window and was quoted over $700 for the job. Luckily, two very kind humans led me toCrystal Glasswhere I enjoyed amazing service for far less money, and the kind of support from Larry Bracke and his awesome team that’s worth gold! Great service when most needed can restore our confidence in broken police bureaucracies, insurance companies that fail to insure or greedy businesses that gouge money yet forget service.

Not that I always get it right. Fail to connect to our brains aha hormones though and we’re sure to miss any opportunity to bring about brilliant bits that empower ourselves and others past daily traps. Let me explain. Let’s say somebody crosses us, let’s us down, or fails to hear us in a situation. In that moment we choose cranky or caring.

Disasters and disappointments tend to trigger a cranky chemical, cortisol in us and in the other person involved. Show kindness, smile and offer respect, even if we have to suck up an injustice such as insurance payments monthly that fail us when we need help, and we woo ourselves and others into serotonin solutions!

We shift angry situations into peaceful solutions by tapping into personal DNA pools. I brought homemade banana bread over to the Crystal Glass team to say thanks for ALL they do to serve in mind-bending ways!

The opposite is also true. Add poor service such as high prices, refusal to help, or indifference to an already distraught person and watch cortisol escalate rather than dissipate. Have you seen it when parents or teachers berate youth? Contrast that response with a parent who gets an upset child laughing and moving forward with confidence. It’s a brain thing…

Below are a few difficulties we all face from time to time, along with our brain’s ready-to-roll solution to help us out.

Kids sometimes see connections in delightful shades that match, links that adults often miss. Take meetings, for example. During one particularly boring gathering, a co-worker Gordon Corns turned off both hearing aids and then smiled or nodded relief as the rest of us suffered two wasted hours. Been there?

When did the last meeting match you, or link to your proclivities in a way that built enthusiasm or created space for adventure? When did participants get to share what they already knew, or articulate what they hoped to discover and benefit from?

Imagine a meeting that offers a life-changing opportunity to build a breakthrough innovation that benefits all concerned. OK, if that’s too big a step to visualize, simply imagine a meeting you loved to attend.

You’ve likely seen it – that rare gathering where enthusiasm and curiosity merge to lift up insights. A gathering where new ideas overflow like geyser streams and where a new way forward sprays into refreshing streams of action.

Will your next meeting stoke talents and extend kindness across differences to every participant?

Brain based meetings offer opportunities for renewal through kindness, reconciliation, and rewards that benefit all concerned. Sounds like a missing ingredient from your meetings? I’m speaking of tangible benefits and observable takeaways human brains prime for daily.

How so? Mindful meetings prosper all, simply by sharpening and using mental tools participants already possess. Yes, even hidden and unused equipment, can determine and add to the success rate of your next meeting.

Our brains come equipped with six tools to lead meetings people love to attend.

Let’s rethink why we need to run from some meetings, and let’s take another look together at new possibilities all meetings could offer. How would you complete the following statement?

This meeting creates space and reaches me on the topic ______________.

Now let’s say your meeting topic is discovering strategies your organization might implement to appeal to and include more diverse ages and talents.

Question first, to discover insights from the backgrounds of diverse participants with the question: If you were new to this organization what top innovative feature would serve you and others best and why so?

Target second, to facilitate a shared goal that guides active engagement of all participants toward meeting outcomes. In this case all outcomes should address the umbrella question above. For instance two main targets here might be: a). participants will compare innovative features; and b). participants will come to an agreement about the top one or two innovations that will be developed and implemented.

Expect third, that high quality outcomes will be reached through a transparent set of criteria for the outcome, or in this case the proposed innovative features that appeal to all. Five criteria may include: a). research to see how similar groups have fostered diversity favorably; b). evidence that people of various ages will benefit from the innovation; c). qualities that may build on tradition but clearly reach forward into a new era; d). concrete description of the innovation that allows it to be seen as a concrete object that improves current situations; e). demonstration of support and sustainability within the organization.

Move mental attributes into action fourth, so that diverse mental capabilities such as multiple intelligences are surveyed, actively engaged and encouraged from all participants and teams.

Finally, reflect on, where to from here? This fifth step identifies clearly what you and the group accomplished during the meeting, what still needs to be done, and what specific plans you will make to take the next step toward your umbrella goal.

Every brain based meeting will use similar prompts to ensure that both sides of diverse minds are engaged as mental equipment to move shared ideas forward toward one goal.

Most agree that golf’s a cerebral game, so it makes sense to play with more brainpower in mind. Luckily we retain 90% more by teaching others as we learn ourselves, so it also makes sense for novice golfers to teach what they learn here to other wanna-be golfers.

Lesser known is the fact that golf benefits us mentally, and that we can literally raise our golf IQ. We use a three point brain based algorithm, seen in the diagram below and explained in the following sections to …

1.Shoot for a higher target than you typically land. Need a birdie to remain under par? Then shoot for an eagle. Your brain leaps to challenges and can create new synapses that stretch your swings to the next level. From that first shot off the tee, golfers capitalize on kinesthetic intelligence and naturalistic intelligence. The game also adds brain chemicals for sharper focus. A growing body of research suggests how the links hold mental benefits for business brains, beyond what most golfers realize. Perhaps more even than rich alliances and friendships gained on the course, golf keeps players in top mental form.

2. Laugh lots and make light of missed shots. To keep serotonin high for the next good whack, use laughter as a fuel for a better ride on the next round. According to this YouTube video a new hazard – a fox – is now in full operation at Missoula, Montana Golf Course, near Clark Fork River Lodge. This fifteen pound red fox is outwitting golfers at almost every hole and its fairways heists keep the most serious golfers in stitches. It seems the little hoodwink fox is seen as a nuisance to a few poor sports yet laughed at by most golfers at the club, who take their shot and then take their chances against the 4-footed thief. What makes you laugh before you swing?

3. Conquer one hole at a time. Bank extra points for the tougher holes and with your deposit in place, relax to ward off stress before you swing for harder holes. Cortisol chemicals surge in a brain under pressure and will work against your golf skills. If you get better shots on the front nine, for instance, work harder for fewer strokes, and then treat the back nine as a learning curve. Challenges that often don’t exist in the first 9 holes tend to pop in the last 9 to give you practice shots from many angles, if you can snip the amygdala before you start the game. Rather than resent the back 9 – see it as a way to improve your brain for a better game. Now there’s a hole-in-one-thought that offers you practice opportunities to grow new skills. Start your game with this winning plan in mind and it helps to keep your head down and swing through though – even on the back nine!

4. Watch fellow players and expect growth regardless of age. Your brain comes equipped with mirror neurons and you can improve your golf skills and optimize your brainpower for better swings at any age. Simply observe what swings work well for others. In spite of a recent bout with cancer, Marjorie Brewer at 60, still swings a driver like a pro and putts like a metronome. She’s out four times a week near the grounds of her law office. People far younger struggle to keep up in one of the persistent mysteries of even an aging brain. Marjorie found there are tremendous health care benefits to doing what she loves most – golf. But others see Marjorie’s high-performance mind for golf that keeps improving with use. At 58, Murray Jensen expected golf to help his brain to show effects of cardiovascular disease. Murray’s doctor seemed surprised by the mental progress and new alertness that boosted Murray’s once frail health. What could a golf game do for your aging mind?

5. Spot and name possibilities rather than challenges. Focus on new developments for your swing, rather than on difficulties that impede your swing. When one hit or putt fails, focus more on improving another shot – with a different club. Regardless of how many obstacles may impede your swing, plan another brisk round of golf’s sheer adventure. See the opportunity in spite of any difficulties and golf’s a mental tonic at once. How so? Golf allows you to capitalize on kinesthetic intelligence and it develops a better brain for business and for balance in other areas of life, than most golfers realize.

6. Risk new moves to gain another skill with each game. Try a new approach rather than fall into the brain’s penchant to default for mental ruts and repeat the same mistakes on a difficult hole. Think back to your last lesson, or to a golf tip you heard, and deliberately give it a shot. The human brain performs better with noveltyand risk. When you consider long term benefits that follow from risk and novelty you’ll likely find courage to move a golf skill to the next level. Worth the risk?

7. Pack brain food and walk rather than ride. Improve your stamina with movement and mental nutrition during your next game. Expect your nourished brain to remain fast, your swings to stay strong and your mind to come alert for new challenges, while you build new neuron pathways to golf skills for lower scores. Did you know the brain demands 21 percent of the entire oxygen to your body? Not surprisingly when you move more through walking, you enrich that supply and add to your brain’s potential.

8. Swing as if to win a top tournament yet accept mishaps as if they didn’t matter a wit. Why? We know from neurogenesis that people improve their lot by beliefs moved into winning tasks. We also know that self-competition reshapes human brains when golfers act to improve. How so? Swing those extra yards, putt a finer approach, Angle a better loft, or chip into the cup, and you literally reshape your brain chemically and electrically for higher intelligence. Even simple competitive practice, can alter brainwaves up or down.

9. Support peers and practice thankfulness. Encouragement adds serotonin and well being to every round of golf – those that go well, and those that don’t. How so? Serotonin opens new ideas and possibilities, when you need it most. This hormone for well-being is essential to a good game and it is increased on the links when you simply expect it to help you out. Deliberately build more serotonin mental-well-being on the golf course today… by wishing others well as they approach the tee. Imagine great shots whenever you take another swing, and refuse to focus on bad shots. Look forward in favor of a lesson learned for the next mentally controlled swing.

10. Compete against your own game. Whenever you focus too much on another golfer’s good score, regretover your own is apt to leave your own next shot short. Regret prevents skill growth. Rather than fight despair by comparing your own struggles to another person’s wins, it’s better to mentally spike each swing in ways that improve your weaker moves. The next time you grab a box of your favorite blue golf balls and head out for the links, visualize your best shot from the tee, and then compete against that shot for golf that follows from a high performance mind on the tee.

Ready for a golf game well under par? Find a fun – ready to use – brain based golf curriculum to help novice golfers and mentor others – with the brain in mind. No prep needed – tasks to engage students as they learn to swing. Let us know how you fare as we’re rooting for you all the way from the algorithmic swing to the final green.

YOUR TURN! Join our Brain Based Circles! Would love to meet you at any of the following!

]]>Mistakes We Make about Introverts. Inner Secret Truths Exposedhttps://brainleadersandlearners.com/2018/07/01/mistakes-we-make-about-introverts-their-secret-truths-exposed/
Sun, 01 Jul 2018 19:41:08 +0000http://www.brainleadersandlearners.com/?p=16365Read more »]]>“He’s not interested in communicating with others,” his mother apologized. “Brett’s our introvert,” she said as if introversion defined Brett’s entire character.

We’ve all heard it. He’d rather be alone. Or, she rarely accepts party invitations, preferring to read at home alone.

All the above relates to our intrapersonal intelligence, where we take on and hopefully enjoy personal growth. It’s a brilliant tool to those who see past its poor reputation.

We link introversion to a personality label too often, and that connection can obscure valuable opportunities to grow skills in other areas. Sadly, we see “introversion” as limiting rather than as dynamic mental strength it adds. We assume introversion precludes growing our social abilities when the two are completely different in the human brain. How so?Intrapersonal IQ is one of your multiple intelligences and it includes but it’s far more than ethics or common sense, or being kind to you!

Daniel Goleman names common sense as part of one’s emotional intelligence. Others say it’s intuition, and Einstein claimed it won him the Nobel Prize. New research shows it includes hunches, where soldiers in battle make fast judgment calls, or introspection that’s found in people who grasp a clearer concept all at once. Have you seen it valued where you work?

My question is: What does intrapersonal intelligence look like in mind-bending climates, and what wonder can it reap on an ordinary day?

We’ve all seen that peacemakers tone communicated by an intrapersonal guru, and we’ve watch it nosedive in a bully or cynic. It packs a punch with faith at times, and builds a better world when ethics becomes its fuel. Yet its absence torments victims of regret, blame or cynicism, where brains default to ruts. It shows up far less in toxic workplaces, and fades in people easily overwhelmed.

You feel it most alive when you’re content to delight in a dinner alone at times, or when you unleash talents to celebrate your call. You’ll likely crave its magic moments, whenever you’re lonely or stuck in sad spots while people around you move forward with confidence and savvy.

Luckily, intrapersonal intelligence can be taught, though it’s not lectured well. It can be stretched and growth but that takes using it just as you use certain muscles to develop soccer or volleyball skills. Thanks to the regeneration of dendrite brain cells, intrapersonal IQ is acquired best by those who rewire their brains for more. How so?

Think before you speak and snip your amygdala so that words can build better friendship and goodwill, and you’ve upped your own and other’s brainpower for common sense.

Log your challenges for a day on the left side of a T-Chart, and then list possible solutions you plan to try on the chart’s right side. As you tackle what you propose in the right column, personal intuition begins to grow. Start by trying one solution, and you brain rewires for ongoing change!

Improve personal tone at work, so that others see you speak calmly and learn humbly from those who differ, and you’ve already expanded inner smarts along new neuron pathways.

Create space in your day to play, do hobbies, laugh, care, question from within your spiritual self, and watch unique intelligences bloom into vibrant colors you most enjoy.

Leapfrog over ruts in favor of taking risks for a finer place, and intrapersonal intelligence jumps to your aid with unexpected dividends, that those caught in ruts with merely crave.

Thanks to intrapersonally intelligent leaders who inspire the charge for renewal and who engage deep intuitive intelligence to stir renewal in ways that rejuvenate broken systems today. Where’s your confidence?

YOUR TURN! Join our Brain Based Circles! Would love to meet you at any of the following!